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July 28, 2005
Bandless
I went over to Twig & Jimmy's place last night. Almost 6 years ago they were my bandmates in Naked Fringe. In Fringe we "garnered minor international attention due to the influence of Napster" to quote Twig's bio from his new band, Interrogation. We all agreed last night that if we had to do it over again, we would've taken ourselves a lot less seriously, and really enjoyed the fact that we were a travelling band for a (very) short period of time.
I've hung out with Twig on occasion since the band split years ago, and we've kept in touch. As soon as we got together, our old in-jokes immeiately reappeared (Sinister Sam!). This was also the first time I'd seen Jimmy since the band split. He's definitely still Jimmy, but I can tell he's changed a lot. We all kind of grew up.
Our bit of time hanging out last night made me pickup my Guitars for the first time in months. I haven't played with anyone in a long time. I talked to Adam from my last band in Orlando for a few minutes last night - they're continuing to do small dates all over the east coast. They're going down to North Carolina in October, and they've relocated up to Pittsburg because of the drummer's new job. I still occasionally talk to Kate from Severance, which was the band in FL where I was really being the most creative. But we fought incessantly - it was 10 times worse than the fighting withing Fringe. Kate and I are still friends, but I can't help but feel a little bitter because I really liked the music we were playing. But we all hated each other when we were playing together.
The most difficult thing in the world must be finding multiple like-minded people who are capable of making music together. And now that I have a job where I'll have at least a few evenings that I'm not working, I've decided to take it upon myself to put together a new band. But how do you begin? All I have is my Les Paul and my Marshall. I don't have a bass. I don't have a practice space. And I certainly don't have any songs.
What's even worse is that I have something very specific that I want to put together. I want to piece together a female fronted band in the vein of Autolux, Denali and Amusement Parks on Fire. Certainly a tall order.
So I've scoured Craigslist. I've checked the City Paper. Anywhere I can think of to look, I've been looking. It was easier in Orlando - I knew just about every major musician on the scene. It was one of the perks to being the Lighting Director for half of the big bands on the scene. I suspect this might be easier once I'm back in school, which should be January if all goes according to plan.
In other news, I'm pondering going to iPod DJ night at Saint Ex tonight.
Posted by MikeSager at 2:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 27, 2005
Employed Again!
Alright - so I have a job again... at NGP! Hooray! It's the company I wanted to work for! They're on their way up, and they have an office culture that appeals greatly to me.
So now that I am once again gamefully employed, I'm going to try to eliminate some debt, and either get an apartment...or a new car... or perhaps both.
And the NDA and Non Compete say nothing about blogging - so I should be okay to keep writing! Wahoo! Then again, the President of the company has a blog too - so it's very likely they won't have a problem with it.
Happy Dance!
Posted by MikeSager at 8:21 PM | Comments (2)
Our Anonymous Nationals
In a town known for scandals and high profile busts, the Nationals can't seem to get arrested in this town*. Chad Cordero in Georgetown? Nope. Castilla at Tysons? Nope. Esteban at ESPN Zone? Umm...right... It seems that our boys of summer might be playing scandalously poor, but not Watergately. Allowing the Braves to break in to First Place Headquarters is not going to result in the resignation of Mr. Bowden. And our guys are so low profile that we don't even recognize them at the mall - be it Tysons or the National one.
What's the problem? I'll tell you what's the problem - people are recognizing the wrong people. Namely, me.
Last month I was walking across the Key Bridge with my dear friend Andrea. We were off procuring drinks, and were making the trek from the Rosslyn Metro station. Along the way, a car pulls up next to us and I hear "Jose! Jose!" I look over and several... how do you say... irritating drunk girly girl at the bar types are in the car, and one of them shouts "Jose! Oh my god, it's Jose Guillen!" We kind of ignore them, and quickly made our way onto M Street as they sped off.
Let's analyze this for a moment.
Me:
Jose Guillen
Hmm... Doesn't quite add up. Probably just a drunk girl being irritating to a random passerby. Well - after some careful consideration, I realized I do bear a slight resemblance to your favorite Redneck fastballer and mine - Gary Majewski!
Me:
Gary:
His name even has Jew in it! It must be true! At first I thought he was a metal head type, because of the hair. Then I saw the picture of him and his father going huntin'. Red. Neck. But hey...
I would also like to take this opportunity to point out that for this article, I violated a strict "no links to the Moonies" policy. Me putting a link to the Washington Times is the 2nd rarest thing you'll see on this site - the only thing I'll refuse to do more is link to Fox News. What are us Liberals to do now that they own MySpace?
Posted by MikeSager at 11:20 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
My Continued Love of Burger King...
If your ad plays to my intellect, I will buy your product.
This is just silly: coqroq.com
Thank you Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Posted by MikeSager at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 26, 2005
Lousy Games, Tendercrisp, College Admissions
Well we certainly sucked a lot this weekend. 4 hits in 14 innings? After the 3 run homer in the top of the 14th, Matt and I headed over to the team store. Their merch is currently disappointing. And the Washington jacket is too much. Though I'll probably get one anyways because when winter rolls around, I want a big blue jacket that says Washington on it.
I would just like to point out that I've been subsisting on a diet of Tendercrisp Chicken Sandwiches. And they are good. So VERY good.
I'm in the process of re-applying to college. Oi. Going back to school is one of those things I've been meaning to do, and I'm finally going to do it. The question is, how much will work interefere with my academic studies. The goal is to find a good job that pays well enough for me to have a place in Arlington, go to school, and have a dog.
I REALLY want a dog.
Posted by MikeSager at 2:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 22, 2005
What a Difference 15 Feet Makes...
Ahh... This explains it. Every time I've said "any other park" I get shrugged off. But really - 395 feet power alleys? That's not a power alley! Let's bring 'em in a little bit.
I'm probably going tonight. Finally going to get to see Clemens pitch. I just hope he doesn't pitch that well... It's ok to root against your favorite childhood player so long as he defected from the Red Sox to become a Yankee. Even if there was a stint in Toronto in between, eh?
Posted by MikeSager at 3:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 21, 2005
They All Want Me...
Interview with NGP Software. Check.
Interview with Children's Defense Fund. Check.
Interview with New Jersey Coordinated Campaign. Check?
Jersey just called. I feel popular. I feel wanted. I don't think Jersey pays enough, though.
We'll see...
Posted by MikeSager at 6:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
New Job?, Let's Go Nats, Flip Flops
I spent most of my day doing phone interviews for a new job. We'll see what happens - I expect to hear something on Tuesday. Couldn't come at a better time - see, I just quit my job and then found out my car has an oil leak. And I need to pay my credit card bill. C'est la vie. Hopefully I'll get this new job because it will be decent money which will allow me to get a Scion (vroom vroom) or Ford Escape, and also get a swanky batchelor pad somewhere in the Rosslyn vicinity. Mwah ha ha!
So I went to the Nats game tonight. I've actually gone to many Nats games recently.
ESPN was there too.
So was James Carville and Tim Russert. I was scouring the crowd for other "famous for DC types" to use a term coined by Wonkette, but alas I did not find any. Perhaps when I'm at the Dodgers/Nats game on the 2nd, when I'll be sitting in the Hecht's corporate seats, then I'll spot some more.
Castilla wasn't able to get us tied or the win, unfortunately, when he hit a liner straight at the Shortstop. Speaking of Shortstop - GUZMAN IS GONE! Wahoo! Guzman is teh suck. But in the absence of a trade or waiver claim, we have Jamey Carroll. And hopefully, we might get Barry Larkin to suit up one more time. We'll see.
So I heard about the Northwestern lacrosse team wearing Flip Flops to the White House. I don't see what the big deal is...
Flip Flops courtesy of my sister. Those are my feet.
Posted by MikeSager at 2:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 18, 2005
Well THAT was interesting...
What I've learned from the Kaine Campaign:
1. Tim Kaine is awesome and deserves your vote.
2. Never, EVER, make Sager do field.
Like seriously, it's a bad idea. I'm NOT a field guy. I could probably come up with a good field plan, but I'm not someone who likes to canvass. If I don't ever knock on another door again, I'll be fine with that.
That's all I'm going to comment about the campaign. But I'm no longer there, and now I'm going to spend a couple of days enjoying life. Then it's time to restart the usual work search.
Posted by MikeSager at 11:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack